Govt to review forestry law

Govt to review forestry law
Written by Mwiinga Mukuwa in Chibombo
Wednesday, December 17, 2008 9:45:30 PM

TOURISM minister Catherine Namugala has saidthe government is in the process of reviewing the forestry policy and forestry Act to strengthen its institutional capacity and protect the environment.

During a national tree-planting ceremony held at Kamaila Basic School in Chibombo on Monday, Namugala said Zambians should adopt a culture of planting trees in order to avoid the depletion of forests.

Namugala said about K3.2 billion had been set aside for the establishment of the tree plantations countrywide.

“Government, through my ministry, will ensure that all district forest nurseries are revamped to ensure that they provide seedlings to support the tree planting drive,” she said.

Namugala noted that climate change was a global concern caused by industrial and agricultural activities as well as destruction of forests.

“Destruction of forests results into deforestation, it does not only affect the community’s livelihood and the national economies but also contributes to climate change,” she said.

Namugala further said that in an effort to mitigate and adapt to climate change, the ministry in collaboration with other stakeholders had started implementing sustainable energy projects in Chibombo, Chongwe, and Kafue under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

“The aim of this project is to reduce deforestation resulting from charcoal burning mainly by providing energy efficient stoves,” she said.

Namugala said the project would assist about 180,000 families which depended on charcoal for cooking.

“These stoves will be using twigs for heating intead of charcoal which as you may know, has contributed to the destruction of the environment through indiscriminate cutting of trees,” she said.

Namugala said those who generated income from charcoal burning would switch to collecting of twigs.

She said the same project would support plantation of twigs by the local communities to enable them sustain there livelihood.